The Tank Bed - Part I

Cabin beds are cool and great for making the most of limited space. But they are also a pain; changing the bed sheets can be an ordeal on the higher beds and if my son is already asleep there is no way to get him into the bed without waking him. So I decided to transform his cabin bed into something far more practical and exciting. I had a few ideas that I thought were good (and very practical) but my son thought they were rubbish! But when I suggested a Tank Bed he thought that was a great idea...

The Design

I started by making some detailed designs!

The turret is octagonal and fitted with casters to allow it to be easily rotated.

I used the original cabin bed wood to make the new structures. Areas were clad with hardboard where needed. I also used contiboard on the top of the body to give a strong base for the turret. Nothing was glued; everything was either pegged or screwed so the whole thing comes apart for easy removal to another room.

To finish I added the gun (a length of drain pipe) and a camo netting curtain. Then painted it.

Finished Product

Features

The finished Tank Bed has the following features:

Body

side camo curtain

front driver's double hatch

rear troop door with latch

commander's cupola in the turret

fully rotating turret

elevating gun

and it also has a bed

Inside

I also added some goodies on the inside:

bright LED strip lighting

red lighting for battle mode

a radio for communications

a tablet for full multimedia entertainment

main control panel for the lighting and other power

Upgrades

The next step was to add the weapons systems to the Tank Bed. See part II.